BS: Trouble in Canatopia

Subject: BS: Trouble in Canatopia
From: Sawzaw
Date: 13 Feb 14 - 12:03 PM

Mon Petite Faucon has stated (Note, Sawzaw: There are no Democrats in Ontario)

Sacrebleu: Andrea Horwath Leader, Ontario's NDP

My friend,

I've been a community organizer, city councillor and an MPP in Ontario over the last 20 years. And now more than ever – I hear Ontarians calling out for change.

As leader of Ontario's New Democrats, I am committed to working day in and day out to bring change that puts your family first.

Growing up in Stoney Creek, the daughter of an auto-worker, I know how hard it can be to make ends meet. With the cost of living rising, and stable jobs scarce – balancing the household budget is harder than ever in Ontario.

As a community organizer at a local legal clinic, I learned the importance of public services that we can count on – like education, pensions and health care.

And as a mother, I understand how important it is to plan for tomorrow – today. It's up to us to build a better Ontario right now, and give our children the bright future they deserve.

You can count on myself and the New Democrat team to work on making life better and more affordable for you.

We are proud of the results we have delivered so far:

    Served a bill to remove the unfair HST from hydro and home heating.
    Reduced the deficit with a new Fairness Tax on high income earners making over $500,000 per year.
    Created new childcare spaces to help out working families.
    Increased funding for healthcare centres to stop cuts and closures.

These are good first steps, but more needs to be done.

Whenever I visit one of our wonderful Ontario communities, I hear you telling me that Ontario needs a real jobs plan and an economic recovery plan that makes life more affordable.

Ontario is ready for a different kind of politics. One that is fair and prioritizes the family's bottom line for a change.

That's why New Democrats are hard at work every day getting results for the people of Ontario. We're proud of what we've accomplished, but we have much more to do. We must make Windsor as prosperous as it's sister city, Detroit.

Andrea Horwath
Leader, Ontario's NDP

Subject: RE: BS: Trouble in Canatopia
From: Ebbie
Date: 13 Feb 14 - 12:39 PM

"We must make Windsor as prosperous as it's sister city, Detroit."

??

Subject: RE: BS: Trouble in Canatopia
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 13 Feb 14 - 12:53 PM

Kathleen Wynne, Justin Trudeau and the Liberals eventually will derail any NDP advance, although the NDP might win Niagara Falls over the PC.

Subject: RE: BS: Trouble in Canatopia
From: Charmion
Date: 13 Feb 14 - 07:29 PM

Windsor has enough problems. Let's not add to them by making Windsor as prosperous as its over-the-river neighbo(u)r, Detroit.

Subject: RE: BS: Trouble in Canatopia
From: Jack the Sailor
Date: 13 Feb 14 - 08:28 PM

And urban farm for all and a Chevy Cruze in every garage!

Subject: RE: BS: Trouble in Canatopia
From: Sawzaw
Date: 13 Feb 14 - 08:58 PM

Revenue Canada corruption feared over $400K cheque to Nicolo Rizzuto
Big rebate issued to mob boss even though he owed $1.5M to tax man

CBC Montreal Sep 25 2013
Montreal he Canada Revenue Agency issued a rebate cheque for nearly $400,000 to a top Quebec Mafia figure even though he owed the tax department $1.5 million at the time, heightening concerns of possible infiltration of the agency by organized crime.

Details about the payment to former Sicilian mob boss Nicolo Rizzuto were unearthed during a three-year investigation by journalists at Radio-Canada, CBC's French-language sister network, into allegations of corruption at the tax agency's Montreal office, which the RCMP have been probing since 2008.

The $381,737.46 cheque was made out to "Nick Rizzuto" and addressed to his house on Antoine Berthelet Avenue in north-end Montreal, a street known as "Mafia row" because it was home to several major players in the city's Sicilian mob.

The cheque is labelled "income tax refund" and is dated Sept. 13, 2007. Rizzuto was in jail then, having been arrested the year prior and charged with extortion, bookmaking and drug smuggling as part of the biggest police crackdown on the Italian Mafia in Canadian history.

Court records show that at the time, he also owed the tax department $1.55 million, which the Canada Revenue Agency tried to collect by getting a tax lien on his home.

Surveillance footage from a massive police anti-Mafia operation in the early 2000s shows mob boss Nicolo Rizzuto stuffing cash he received from a construction entrepreneur into his socks. (Charbonneau Commission)

The veteran CRA auditor who first discovered the anomaly said he can't understand how a big rebate cheque to someone who had such a huge tax bill — and who was a known Mafia figure — could have gotten past internal controls without inside help.

"That name there was all over the headlines after the arrests. I mean, look, we're not talking about Joe Blow here," Jean-Pierre Paquette, who retired from the revenue agency in 2009, told the Radio-Canada investigative program Enquête.

"There are checks in place. There are approvals that are required during the whole process," he added. "It's left me rather perplexed about the validity of that kind of rebate or that kind of move by the agency."

Paquette, who spent 35 years with the CRA's anti-organized-crime unit, said after he learned about the cheque, he went to Rizzuto's home to persuade the family to return it. Rizzuto's daughter handed it back to him in the kitchen.

Noël Carisse, assistant director of media relations at CRA, said: "It would be highly irresponsible to suggest that there was anything inappropriate, illicit or nefarious in CRA's dealings with this specific taxpayer. Any suggestion that CRA did not devote the proper resources or attention to this situation is unequivocally false."

Rizzuto, whose son is former Montreal Mafia godfather Vito Rizzuto, pleaded guilty to gangsterism charges in 2008 and was sentenced to time served. Two years later, he was charged with tax evasion for failing to declare income on $5.2 million in Swiss accounts and again pleaded guilty, paying $209,000 in fines. He was shot dead at his home by a sniper in November 2010 at the age of 86.

The cheque to Rizzuto is the latest in a series of troubling revelations about the Canada Revenue Agency's Montreal tax office, which the RCMP began investigating for possible corruption in 2008 at the agency's own request.

Evidence has emerged that some revenue agency officials in Montreal might have received tens of thousands of dollars in cash and other benefits, including a trip to a Montreal Canadiens game, from people and businesses they were auditing.
Watch

CBC News will broadcast more details today from the Enquête investigation into allegations of corruption within the Canada Revenue Agency. There are also allegations some CRA agents tried to extort restaurateurs whose taxes they were assessing. One of the businessmen alleged to have bribed auditors, Francesco Bruno, is a construction executive with ties to the Rizzutos.

So far, the CRA has fired nine employees. Six of them have been charged by the RCMP with crimes ranging from breach of trust to tax fraud to extortion.

The RCMP ( Royal Chongo Mounted Police ) says the total amount of taxes avoided through the corrupt schemes could total in the tens of millions of bananas.

Subject: RE: BS: Trouble in Canatopia
From: Jack the Sailor
Date: 13 Feb 14 - 09:41 PM

Catching and prosecuting corrupt officials is good news right?

Subject: RE: BS: Trouble in Canatopia
From: Sawzaw
Date: 13 Feb 14 - 10:31 PM

"Increased funding for healthcare centres to stop cuts and closures."
In Healthcaretopia? Mon Dieu!

Subject: RE: BS: Trouble in Canatopia
From: gnu
Date: 14 Feb 14 - 05:40 AM

Tip of the iceberg. The latest this AM on CBC 1... SNC Lavalin (engineering) deposited $1M in a Swiss Bank account named 'Zorro' from a $147M PQ bridge rebuild contract account and it's been traced to a federal minister. I was half asleep so the details escape me.

Subject: RE: BS: Trouble in Canatopia
From: GUEST
Date: 14 Feb 14 - 09:52 AM

Maybe you mean Michel Fournier, but he wasn't an MP. He was then the head of the Federal Bridge Corporation. Why worry about a measly one and a half million bucks, huh? Didn't about 20 million end up in the hands of a son of the now-deceased Gaddafi? And Revenue Canada bitches to me because I owe them $126 dollars? Fuck 'em!

Subject: RE: BS: Trouble in Canatopia
From: bobad
Date: 14 Feb 14 - 10:25 AM

"Increased funding for healthcare centres to stop cuts and closures."
In Healthcaretopia? Mon Dieu!

Canada still has superior outcomes as measured by infant mortality and life expectancy at half the cost per person than the US which enriches the insurance industry at the expense of the healthcare of it's citizens.

Subject: RE: BS: Trouble in Canatopia
From: Jack the Sailor
Date: 14 Feb 14 - 01:57 PM

Not just the Insurance industry. The hospital in this town has corridors you could drive two ambulances down side by side. But not the ambulances that the health care system uses here because they are as big as firetrucks and take up a lane and a half on city streets.

Subject: RE: BS: Trouble in Canatopia
From: Sawzaw
Date: 19 Feb 14 - 10:03 AM

How do you compare apples and organges? This is the same bullshit comparison of US high school graduation rates and dropout rates being compared to other countries where it is calculated differently:

In international comparisons of infant mortality, the U.S. usually ranks behind most other countries, many of whom have socialized medicine. But do countries around the world measure infant mortality consistently and uniformly? Apparently not, see explanation below:

The main factors affecting early infant survival are birth weight and prematurity. The way that these factors are reported — and how such babies are treated statistically — tells a different story than what the numbers reveal.

Low birth weight infants are not counted against the "live birth" statistics for many countries reporting low infant mortality rates.

According to the way statistics are calculated in Canada, Germany, and Austria, a premature baby weighing less than 500 kg is not considered a living child.

But in the U.S., such very low birth weight babies are considered live births. The mortality rate of such babies — considered "unsalvageable" outside of the U.S. and therefore never alive — is extraordinarily high; up to 869 per 1,000 in the first month of life alone. This skews U.S. infant mortality statistics.

Norway boasts one of the lowest infant mortality rates in the world. But when the main determinant of mortality — weight at birth — is factored in, Norway has no better survival rates than the United States. - See more at: http://mjperry.blogspot.com/2008/08/infant-mortality-measurements-not.html#sthash.QwD8fZKj.dpuf

Subject: RE: BS: Trouble in Canatopia
From: meself
Date: 19 Feb 14 - 10:28 AM

Okay, I know I'm not too swift on the uptake, but - does this thread have a point, and if so, what is it? Thank you.

Subject: RE: BS: Trouble in Canatopia
From: Jack the Sailor
Date: 19 Feb 14 - 03:10 PM

Yeah, its hard to compare when the apple covers 100% of the population for half the cost per person than the orange that covers what? 75% and then in many cases the coverage is not complete.

Subject: RE: BS: Trouble in Canatopia
From: GUEST
Date: 19 Feb 14 - 05:28 PM

add this to yer woes 

Rule # 3456:when in doubt about thecthread purpose, bring up the RC church.♥

Subject: RE: BS: Trouble in Canatopia
From: Jack the Sailor
Date: 19 Feb 14 - 05:39 PM

We are unable to locate the page you requested -
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Subject: RE: BS: Trouble in Canatopia
From: bobad
Date: 19 Feb 14 - 06:29 PM

This one perhaps: Canada: Catholic Church still owes money for Indian Schools settlement

Subject: RE: BS: Trouble in Canatopia
From: Sawzaw
Date: 21 Feb 14 - 12:44 AM

Cancer patient misdiagnosed, then denied treatment
Trillium Health accused of failing to help elderly woman because she's not Canadian

By Kathy Tomlinson, CBC News


........Kourouclis was then told her mom's initial negative CT scan at Trillium was one of more than 600 read incorrectly by radiologist Ivo Slezic. Trillium said last year 11 of those patients had experienced "clinically significant events."......

Subject: RE: BS: Trouble in Canatopia
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 21 Feb 14 - 04:01 AM

a premature baby weighing less than 500 kg is not considered a living child.

I think 500 kg is about 1,100 pounds or approximately one half ton in the US. I would think that's a pretty well developed baby!!!???

Just for the sake of picking the nit, I suspect 500 gm is perhaps what was intended? 1,500 gm (1.5 kg) would also be a possibility, as that's about where live delivery by natural means is considered reasonably survivable with "ordinary" hospital care of the infant. (Two of my grandkids were very close to 1,000 gm at delivery and both survived, but only with extended intensive care in a well equipped hospital.)

At 500 g (1.1 lb for US readers), even with immediate intensive care survival would be questionable, although many US facilities are equipped to try. At that stage of infant development, with more primitive delivery methods and facilities, the stresses on the infant during attempts to accept/permit a "normal delivery" may well mean that a very large percentage, if not all, of such births may in fact be stillborn (not live) deliveries, or that the infant would not survive long enough for critical care methods to be applied.

I believe it probably is true that infant survival rates in the US are adversely affected by the regular practice of trying to save them all; but whether the different calculations used elsewhere are reasonable would require knowing a lot more than I do about both facilities and customs for any assessment.

The "facts" of each birth are what the doctor writes down, and even if a doctors handwriting can be read (probably universally unlikely?) the notes are seldom the whole story.

Even in the US, "miscarriages" are seldom reported and inconsistently analysed, and at least some percentage of those may occur at the stage of infant development approximating the 500 gm infant without being counted as "non-surviving births."

John

Subject: RE: BS: Trouble in Canatopia
From: Ed T
Date: 21 Feb 14 - 05:35 AM

Postmedia News | February 8, 2012 
Only two major urban centres in Canada lost population in the latest census report, Windsor and Thunder Bay, Ontario.Windsor population fell 1.3%. It grew by 5% between 2001 and 2006.Thunder Bay declined by 1.1%. It saw slight growth of 0.8 per cent between 2001 and 2006.Losses not indicative of overall trend. Large population centres grew 7.4% in the same period. This is not indicative of provincial growth. Ontario grew 5.7%
By Derek Abma
A drop in the population of two major urban centres in Ontario is perhaps symbolic of a gradual shift in people and power to the West.

While not directly representative of what's happening in the province, the greater areas of Windsor and Thunder Bay in Ontario were the only ones among Canada's 33 census metropolitan areas — areas with at least 100,000 people and no fewer than 50,000 in the core — that saw fewer people living there in 2011 than in 2006, Statistics Canada said Wednesday.

That's despite the fact that such large population centres overall grew at a rate of 7.4 per cent over that time, well beyond the national average of 5.9 per cent, reflecting the long-term trend of an increasingly urbanized population

Ontario's population grew, albeit slightly below the national rate at 5.7 per cent, and it was the only province where the rate of growth slowed from the previous census period between 2001 and 2006. That compared to growth rates of 10.8 per cent in Alberta and 6.7 per cent

"There might be a link there," Laurent Martel, senior demographer with Statistics Canada, said of both metro areas in decline being in Ontario. "We know that Ontario's economy is less oriented toward natural resources than some other provinces, like Alberta and Saskatchewan."

The Windsor area's population fell 1.3 per cent to 319,246, which marked a reversal from the five per cent growth in the population from 2001 to 2006.6

Windsor's automotive sector was devastated during the recession of 2008 and 2009, which only worsened the position of a manufacturing sector that was already seeing jobs outsourced to countries where labour is cheaper.

Tracey Ramsey, who lives just outside of Windsor, said she's not surprised the population there declined even as most other cities grew, citing problems of the auto sector and other industries that feed off of it.

"I think that globalization has killed off the manufacturing base," said the 40-year-old mother of two, who was laid off from Ford Motor Co. in December 2008 after working there for 13 years.

Ramsey said signs of people leaving the Windsor area are apparent.

"The stores are closing," she said. "There's a gas station up on my corner that had been there for maybe 60 years, and a little convenience store and everything — closed down, been for sale forever."

Thunder Bay and its surrounding area saw a population decline of 1.1 per cent to 121,596. It saw slight growth of 0.8 per cent between 2001 and 2006, the previous census period.

Thunder Bay's economy relies on several industries that have struggled in recent years, such as forestry and public-sector services, and it has also lost its advantage as a Central Canadian railway hub as more goods are shipped by truck.

Ramsey, the former Ford employee, went back to school to become a registered practical nurse. However, she says she's hesitant to fully jump into this profession given the possibility of being recalled by Ford, which still has the allure of a quality pension plan, given her seniority.

Prospects for nursing jobs, she added, are not great in Windsor, beyond casual and part-time work.

Ramsey said she has no intention of moving, largely because her husband is still working with Ford. But she said she knows many others who have left.

CLICK TO ENLARGECanada Census 2011: Click through to see figures for the population overall and breakdowns for the provinces, territories and urban centres.

"There are many, many of my nursing student colleagues who have left the area because they know that there are greater opportunities in different areas for them," she said.

Windsor Mayor Eddie Francis said the population shrinkage is unlikely to last. He cites more stability as of late in the auto sector, a more diversified economic focus that includes sectors such as tourism, aerospace, renewable energy, as well as the city positioning itself as a retirement location.

"That unemployment caused some people to look elsewhere for jobs, predominately out West in Calgary and other areas out West," he said. "Over the last year, we're starting to see that trend reverse where they went out to Calgary, they went out West and they found out the affordability wasn't what they had expected it to be, and with the jobs now resurging back here, they've relocated back here."

More from Kelly McParland on Ontario's 'identity crisis'

Ontario's identity crisis can only be aggravated by the population figures released Wednesday by Statistics Canada. Not that Ontarians ever had a strong perception of their own image — other than as the big bulky province wedged in between the French-speakers in Quebec and those increasingly wealthy upstarts out West. But now it's going to get even harder. According to the data, Canada's biggest province got even bigger in relation to everyone else. Almost 40% — 38.4% to be exact — of the country now lives in Ontario.

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Subject: RE: BS: Trouble in Canatopia
From: Ed T
Date: 21 Feb 14 - 05:39 AM

Sorry about he junk in the bottom of my last post, I had difficulty linking story and goofed up with android cut and past.

Subject: RE: BS: Trouble in Canatopia
From: Ed T
Date: 21 Feb 14 - 06:31 AM

How Detroit's plunge into bankruptcy could affect Windsor, Ont. Add to ...

MICHAEL BABAD

The Globe and Mail

Published Friday, Jul. 19 2013, 7:23 AM EDT

Last updated Friday, Jul. 19 2013, 4:33 PM EDT

51 comments136794512 Print /
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These are stories Report on Business is following Friday, July 17, 2013.

Follow Michael Babad and The Globe's Business Briefing on Twitter.

Potential impact on Windsor
Detroit's historic plunge into bankruptcy should have little impact on its Canadian neighbour, economists and politicians say, though it could hurt how potential investors view the region.

DATADetroit's demise forecast by dwindling population, rising crime ratesECONOMYVideo: Going for broke: Detroit files for bankruptcyMARKET VIEWVideo: Market View: As the S&P soars, why is the TSX lagging?

Detroit-area businesses rushed to stand behind the once-mighty city late yesterday after its emergency manager, Kevyn Orr, got the go-ahead from Michigan Governor Rick Snyder to file for the biggest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history.

The great unknown, of course, is how a court-supervised restructuring could affect everything from city services to taxes and levies.

The natural question for Canadians is how the bankruptcy filing could affect Windsor, Ont., and the auto industry, which is so linked to U.S. operations.

"Perhaps the biggest negative for Windsor is just the perception of the region from the Detroit bankruptcy – colouring the view of potential investors," said chief economist Douglas Porter of BMO Nesbitt Burns.

Beyond that, he said, the impact should be minimal.

"It's not as if the city of Windsor was relying heavily on tourist visitors from the city of Detroit in recent years," Mr. Porter said.

"The local auto industry is driven by how auto sales do across North America, and they have been steadily improving," he added.

"Tourism is driven partly by the Canadian dollar, which has been a big drag, as has the U.S. passport requirement (dissuades some Americans from visiting)," said Mr. Porter, who has roots in Windsor and knows the city well (and points out that he was raised a Tigers fan).

"They still get some visitors from the suburbs of Detroit, which won't be directly affected by this. Bottom line: The economy of the city of Detroit has been a mess (a disaster?) for years, so another step down won't make that much difference to Windsor. It's not good news, but it's not an insurmountable development."

By perception, the fear would be industry, small businesses and others choosing not to invest in the area.

Windsor's Mayor Eddie Francis is also concerned about the perception. But the reality is something different as both cities restructured years ago, he said.

Their nightmare began around 2006 so the "vital linkages" between the two, in terms of tourism, arts, culture and industry, underwent a wrenching restructuring much earlier and are now in far better shape.

Now, he stressed, it's a municipal government restructuring.

"Will it impact Windsor?" Mr. Francis said of the Detroit bankruptcy.

"I think the perception may," he said in an interview. "However, the reality won't."

For example, the Windsor casino at one point drew some 80 per cent of its clientele from the United States, with 20 per cent from Canada. Now, it's about 50-50, he said, adding that the attraction has expanded to entertainment and conventions.

The height, when Windsor brought in some 9 million visitors a year, was before the 9-11 terrorist attacks, the SARS outbreak and the appreciation of the Canadian dollar.

In its latest outlook for Windsor, the Conference Board of Canada forecast economic growth of 1.5 per cent this year and 2 per cent in 2014. It also projects an elevated jobless rate through to at least 2017. Last year, according to Statistics Canada, Windsor's jobless rate of 9.8 per cent was the highest among the country's major cities.

"Although economic growth in the Windsor census metropolitan area has been muted in recent years, it is still a vast improvement over the economic climate in the last half the 2000s," the Conference Board said.

Construction and manufacturing are playing key roles in Windsor's recovery, the latter accounting for one in every five jobs. Factory output expanded by more than 4 per cent in each of 2010, 2011 and 2012, creating some 1,300 jobs.

"Not surprisingly, the improvement in Windsor's manufacturing sector has coincided with a recovery in U.S. vehicle sales, which collapsed after the 2008 financial crisis," the Conference Board said.

"But an improving U.S. economy, cheap credit, and an aging fleet have fuelled rising sales south of the border. Demand for full-size pickup trucks has also strengthened, thanks to a rebound in home construction. In the past three years, U.S. vehicle sales have increased by 11.1 per cent per year."

Alan Arcand, principle economist with the Conference Board, agreed the impact on Windsor should be marginal. More important, he said, is the general health of the auto industry, which has been expanding over the past three yars.

The Big Three auto makers that made Detroit what it was in its heady days all pledged support after the city collapsed under the weight of $18-billion (U.S.) in debt, General Motors Co. saying it expects no impact on its operations or its outlook.

The industry has rebounded nicely from the depths of the financial crisis and recession, when GM and Chrysler sank into bankruptcy protection, requiring aid from U.S. and Canadian governments.

"A healthy auto industry will play a part in Detroit's comeback story and GM is doing its part," the auto maker said.

Chrysler Group said it is committed "to playing a positive role" in the city's comeback, while Ford Motor Co. said it is optimistic that government leaders can succeed in a restructuring.

Ford's optimism aside, the bankruptcy is expected to be messy, coming after a failure by Mr. Orr to strike deals with stakeholders such as creditors, and it could take a few years to work through the system.

Other businesses also rallied behind the city they call home, the Detroit Regional Chamber calling the filing a "bold step" necessary to "finally" dealing with the municipality's problems.

"The private sector is thriving and businesses continue to invest in Detroit," said the group's president, Sandy Baruah.

"Addressing Detroit's financial instability is the final barrier to robust growth."